Her Royal Subject

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Addison/Derek

Summary: She was surprised to learn... she wasn't alone in passive aggressiva. And it wasn't such a bad surprise either.

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story. This is not mine.

The semi warm spray of the water did nothing to soothe her aching muscles nor did it waken her like she had hoped. Sure, it woke her up but not in the comforting, leisurely way a hot shower would have, had she been living in an actual house. You know, like normal people?

Heck, an apartment or a hotel room would be much better than this. Come to think of it the showers at the hospital were better than this dinky little box in the tin can that Derek was forcing them to live in.

It was a part of her penance. And Addison really tried her best to not complain.

She was usually very successful.

But with the way that morning had been shaping up she should have known that being able to hold her tongue wouldn't be happening.

She turned to get her shampoo off the little rack that held all of their toiletries. Addison grabbed it quickly and in the process smacked her elbow on the handle of the shower's water supply and almost instantly felt the tingling pain radiate through her arm.

"Shoot! Ouch… oh you have got to be kidding me!" She mumbled and she dropped the shampoo in her hand to nurse her injured elbow. But instead of landing on the floor like it should have the bottle landed right on her foot.

And again Addison felt the pain shoot through her almost instantly. She began to hobble around trying to shake off the dull but very real pain in her foot as she continued to rub her tingling elbow at the same time.

If that wasn't enough she managed to knock the shower door handle free of its limp latch and the door sprang open and she fell right through it into the cold air of the trailer. The only bit of luck she had that morning presented itself when she caught herself from falling to the hard floor of the trailer in a heap of cold, wet, slippery skin.

As she stood there trying to wrap her mind around the unbelievable string of mishaps that her morning shower had turned into, but he should have known better than to laugh at her.

Addison turned her head to the side and saw through her mess of auburn locks, Derek standing at the kitchen counter holding a cup of coffee with a broad, almost giddy, smile.

"You think this is funny, do you?" She asked slowly in a steely tone that should have been another clue to her husband that her mood was not a good one on that day but he had always been a little dense sometimes.

This was one of those moments. "Yeah, my god Addie, it's just a shower. I thought a world renowned surgeon like you could handle something so simple."

Addison stood up to her full height as she completely recovered from her almost fall from the shower and absolutely glared at Derek as she grabbed her robe from the hook and began to put it on.

"That—thing is not a shower! That thing is a death trap!"

Derek looked at her indignantly. "That shower is just fine. Stop hating on the trailer. Everything about it is just fine and dandy."

"Maybe for you mountain men but for normal people, normal, sane people like me it is not fine and it is most certainly not dandy!" She said loudly as she started for the bedroom and began to quickly stuff her things for the day into a black shoulder bag that she threw on the bed.

"We all know that your problems with the trailer don't actually have anything to do with the trailer. So let's get right to what this is actually about." Derek said calmly as he stood still in the spot he had been when she had stumbled from the shower stall.

Addison's head snapped up and she turned to him in a deadly manner and advanced on him like a predator on its prey as she finished pulling the scrub top over her head. Her wet hair was dripping on her clothes as she stared at her smug husband in disbelief.

"I know you think my problems with this stupid trailer have everything to do with your little McDreamy intern and nothing to do with the small shower that a full grown person can barely move around in or the fact that the oven takes twice as long to cook a pizza than it should or how about the limited amount of storage space or the almost hour and a half long commute to the hospital or the fact that the heat is sparse or the bed is lumpy sometimes. It couldn't possibly be about any of those things. It all has to revolve around you!"

Derek just smirked like it was all a joke. And it occurred to her as his next words fell out of his lips, that maybe to him it all was a joke.

"She isn't my McDreamy intern, that is her nickname for me."

"Well then, McDreamy." Addison spat out as she stood up to her full height as gracefully as she could. "Maybe it would be best if you gave her a chance to shower in that deathtrap. I am sure she could manage."

She watched the realization dawn on him and the smirk fall of his handsome face as the seriousness of her words hit him. All of a sudden he figured out that this was a fight about not just their trailer but their marriage.

And that he was the one that had turned a little fight about a shower into a big argument their marriage. And he was starting to realize that Addison was just about done with all of it.

"Addie, I'm sorry-"

Addison turned back to the bedroom and pulled on the pants to her scrubs and pushed her feet into a pair of tennis shoes before grabbing her bag and then whipping her body toward the door and grabbed her keys in the process.

"Addie, you can't be serious about this." Derek pleaded as she passed him toward the small door to their trailer.

She went to open it but smirked as a thought came to her mind and turned back to look at him.

"I am the queen of passive aggressiva but maybe it is time I gave up my crown. I am sick of all of this Derek. I really, truly am."

Derek swallowed. "I don't want a divorce."

She sighed. "Then maybe you should start acting like it."

And with that she opened the door and walked away from her husband and their home together. Addison had a small hope that her words had somehow gotten through his thick skull but then an image of Meredith Grey flashed in her mind and she realized how small that hope really was.

When she had arrived at the hospital she was able to use their resources of hot water and large shower stalls to finish cleaning up and presented herself reasonably all things considered and no one was the wiser of the awful morning that she had had.

The only indication of her morning or their fight was the cold shoulder Addison had treated Derek to all day. If for no other reason than she was still ticked over how the whole fight had started in the first place. How could he have just stood there all smug and cocky just laughing at her as she stumbled and flailed around like that? A part of her understood that she was probably a funny sight with her wet hair, totally naked, and almost falling to the floor and maybe it had been a natural reaction but it wasn't like he was even a little concerned.

Addison wondered if those were the moments when the real Derek showed his face. The guy who didn't really care what happened with her or to her. It was in those moments when he didn't have time to prepare a façade that she wondered if she was seeing the man she was married to now.

A man that told her he loved another woman that laughed at her when she was having trouble, and that called her the queen of passive aggressiva like it was something cute taking after his girlfriend and all of her immature intern buddies.

Derek had tried to talk to her many times that day but she had successfully avoided him. Never staying with him in the same room for too long and they had not been alone together since early that morning. Maybe it was better that way. Addison did not have to face anything that way and it was easier on her that way.

Maybe she just had to take consolation in the fact that he had at least tried to talk to her and that he at least tried to cover up the fact that he no longer cared about her and he only wanted that girl.

Addison sighed.

She was sitting on the bench in the Attendings' locker room and her body and muscles ached with a long day of patients, and nurses, and interns. And she no longer had anything good to look forward to when she went home. Maybe she would stop by the store on the way out to the trailer and pick up a pint of cookies and cream. A little cold comfort would be nice after the day she had had.

She would have heard him approach had she not been caught up in her thoughts of frozen treats.

"I got you something."

She closed her eyes. Addison should have known that her luck would run out eventually given the crappy way her day had started out even though she had avoided him all day Derek had found her when she was at her most vulnerable. And there was no escape route. As she felt him sit down next to her on the bench… she knew it would all be downhill from there once again.

"Seriously, open your eyes Addie. I got you a something"

Without doing as he asked she just sighed and asked quietly. "Please stop calling me that Derek."

"What? Your name?" He chuckled. "What else am I supposed to call you?"

"Addison. Just call me Addison and stop calling me Addie and we can quit pretending."

"Pretending what?"

She opened her eyes at that moment and turned her head to gaze at him softly. The mess that they had made of their marriage was catching up with her and making her feel totally beaten and defeated.

So she held nothing back as she stared into his pretty blue eyes. "Stop pretending you care about me."

And the hurt that flooded those pretty blue eyes as her words registered made it seem like she had punched him in the gut with all she had. God, she wanted to believe that look.

He furrowed his brows.

"I do care about you, Addie. And no, I won't stop calling you that." Derek said softly. "You're my wife."

Addison shook her head a little. "Why? Why am I your wife anymore? You love her."

Derek frowned and scooted a little closer to her so that there wasn't much space left between their bodies. "I—I know but that doesn't change that I love you too… that I have loved you for almost as long as I can remember."

Addison smiled softly but she knew it had a touch of sadness to it. "I can't do this much longer. I don't want to be the queen of passive aggressiva much longer."

Derek surprised her in that moment by beaming a bright smile in her direction and then held up a finger to indicate he wanted her to wait a moment then he reached down by his feet under the bench and pulled up a little gift bag.

"Speaking of..."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "What is this?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a yacht. What do you think? I'm going to tell you straight out because then that would defeat the purpose of wrapping it."

Addison sighed and took the bag gingerly from his grasp in front of her face. It was light and stuffed to the brim with pink tissue paper. It wasn't her birthday, and if it was their anniversary then she had totally spaced out. But she knew she hadn't because their twelfth anniversary was kind of a big one for them considering all that had gone on in the last year and she was still scared that they wouldn't make it that far.

So was it possible that Derek had done something nice for her just for the heck of it?

A few moments passed and she had not moved a muscle she heard Derek blow a breath of frustration through his nose and snatched the small bag back from her and her eyes followed his every move.

Patience was not his virtue.

Derek looked her in the eye as he began to remove the paper from the small bag and she saw the annoyance in his gaze but it softened as his fingers reached deep inside the present and slowly removed what was inside.

"So there is a land… called passive aggressiva and you… are their queen." He said as he held up what he had for her.

And as she looked at it Addison couldn't help but smile at it. It was a plastic play tiara that one would get a costume store.

"And every queen… needs a crown. And no you can't give it up." Derek smirked.

Addison sighed again. "What is this about, Derek? A crown? For being passive aggressive?"

Derek shook his head and raised his hands to place the crown on her mane of fiery hair that was placed in a messy bun on top of her head. He smiled as he adjusted it to fit correctly and brought his hands down the sides of her face slowly.

After all the years they had spent together, he still made her skin tingle with excitement and desire.

He leaned in closer and closer to her body until their noses were brushing one another and their hot breathing was mixed in the small space between their mouths. She stared into his blue eyes as they sparkled back at her with desire.

"No, I was thinking we could, maybe use this later on tonight. When we get home and make up."

Addison smirked. "So this is you trying to get into my good graces?"

Derek smiled at her broadly. "Well, I never said that being queen of passive aggressiva didn't have its perks. Besides, I don't mind you being your royal subject… that you could maybe boss around. But really it is my first official step as your royal subject to start acting like I don't want the "D" word."

Addison smiled at him. "Well your second official action as my royal subject… is to kiss me."

Derek smirked again with that mischievous glint in his eyes, "Is that an order?"

"You bet your ass it is."

Derek smiled widely, "As you wish."

End.

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